Sporting Scenes Amongst the Kaffirs of South Africa

Mendelssohn 486: 'An account of hunting and sporting experiences in Kaffraria and Natal. The author joined a party of Boer hunters who were making an excursion into the plains under the Drakensberg mountains, near the sources of the Mooi River. He remarks on the wonderful eyesight possessed by these people and their contempt for the English as sportsmen... There is a good account of the natives with many notes of the fauna of the country.'

The title-page is that of the first edition, but the excellent illustrations, including frontispiece, are instead by J. Wolf, and from the second edition. The original first edition sheets were used, but since they had run out of the original first edition plates and illustrations, they instead used J. Wolf's creations, numbering 9 full-page plates, and an illustration "showing the spoors of some of the different South-African animals." One plate is ragged around its edges, see photo.

Alfred Wilks Drayson (also Wilkes) (1827-1901) was an English army officer, author and astronomer. Drayson graduated in 1846 at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. Commissioned, he then served in the Seventh Xhosa War. He rose through the ranks of the Royal Artillery, being promoted captain in 1854, on his return from South Africa. From 1858 to 1873 Drayson was on the Military Topography staff at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, serving as Professor of Surveying and Topographical Drawing. He retired from the army as a major-general in 1883. He was a personal friend of Arthur Conan Doyle, who dedicated to him the short story collection The Captain of the Polestar.

Original pictorial gilt cloth worn and faded, but uncommon in the original binding; original endsheets, inner hinges appear to be cracking but are firm and holding nicely; the binding is fairly tight, and is sturdy. Book has normal age-related faults, such as mild foxing, soiling, with evidence of moisture primarily to edges of plates. xiv, 327 pages